Types of ParagraphA brief description, by,Astrid RomeroGina MartinezDaniel Vasquez

Types of ParagraphIn general, it is said that the classification of paragraphs is done according to their location in the text or its content (text-type). Besides those, another concerning to its logical structure is considered as an important class of paragraph.

According to that, this presentation will show the classes of paragraph considering:

- Location

- Content (text-type)

- Logical structure

The locationThe location of the paragraph is referred to the position that it occupies in the text.

Which means that it can be:

- An opening one: This kind of paragraph has a very important function which is being the introduction or presentation of the text. Something to highlight here, is that the opening paragraph is perhaps the main opportunity to catch the attention of the reader and immerse him in it.

This paragraph can also be considered as the occasion to present an abstract of the subject or even the position and questions of the author in front of it.

The location- The middle or transitory one: By means of this

paragraph it is possible for the author to expose and bridge ideas. Because of that this kind of paragraphs begins and make use of linkers such as “in consequence”, “whereas the above”, “nevertheless”, “on the contrary”, “on the other hand”, etc.

- The closing one: Well known as summary and/or conclusion. This paragraph can serve to both functions, since it can be used to present an abstract of the subject, as well as the conclusions of the text and sometimes to suggest questions to be made by the readers. Sometimes the closing paragraph can also be used as introduction of a future or continuing document of the same author. With the opening paragraph, this one is also considered a delimiter of the text.

The Content- Narrative: By means of this class of paragraph

the author presents a temporal sequence of events, actions or situations. Example: to present a biography.

- Descriptive: This class of paragraph is specially used to make the point on the characteristics of an specific subject, which can be a place, a situation, a person or even, an idea. Example: to describe the scene of a situation.

- Conceptual: The main use of this paragraph is to explain a concept or idea of the author, that in the most part of times is going to be used or referred throughout the text, and it is needed for the reader to have a comprehension of those concepts in order to understand the text itself. Example: to explain the origin or the meaning of a word.

The Content- Expository: This paragraph is used to inform or

explain in a more specific sense. Example: to explain the fundaments of a theory or the causes of a situation such as the behavior of the financial crisis of 2008.

- Chronological: Is a paragraph used to present a temporal succession of events. Example: to tell the history of a country.

- Persuasive: This class of paragraph is mainly used to influence or persuade the reader of the ideas of the author. Example: to defend a theory.

The Content- Of enumeration: This paragraphs are used only

in the cases where it is needed to explain to reader the order of a text in order to provide him a better understanding of it. Example: in an academic text ,thesis type one.

The Logic Structure- Comparative: This is a paragraph used in order to discuss the similarities

between two subtopics. First, the ideas in this paragraph are organized. As usual, the topic sentence is at the beginning of the paragraph. After that, the paragraph continues by discussing one point of similarity. Specific details are given to support the statements, following this; the paragraph briefly discusses a second point of similarity. Here, the paragraph also gives support details to illustrate their similarity. Therefore, this kind of paragraph is structured according to the points of similarity between two things. This particular paragraph discusses only two points of similarity, but of course we can imagine a paragraph that gives three, four, or even more points of similarity (Scott 2000).

- Cause-Effect: generally follow basic paragraph format. That is, they begin with a topic sentence and this sentence is followed by specific supporting details.   For example, if the topic sentence introduces an effect, the supporting sentences all describe causes. Additionally, the topic sentence is followed by the "focusing" or "prediction" sentence.  There are several reasons for this. Such sentences help the reader anticipate the organization of the paragraph (Fries 1993).

The Logic Structure- Deductive: reasoning refers to beginning with a general

conclusion or statement and then finding specific or particular observations/arguments to support our initial thesis. Most authors writing for textbooks use this method of writing. “Deductive starts with a larger, general thesis and goes to find smaller elements to support it. (qualitative to quantitative)” (Björk & Räisänen 1997).

- Inductive: reasoning refers to making specific or particular observations/arguments which, together, build towards a broader general conclusion. “Inductive paragraph structure: The main idea comes at the end of the paragraph as a kind of conclusion from the aforementioned information, arguments and examples. In other words, inductive starts with small things to get to the larger, general thesis (quantitative to qualitative)” (Björk & Räisänen 1997).

The Logic Structure- Concussion: vary widely in structure;

nonetheless, it follows this structure: first, we need to restate our thesis, then; it comes the summation which tells the reader what they should have learned, why it is important and how it relates to the world. Finally, the Concluding sentence which is the final thought where we leave the reader something to think about. (Benson 1994).

Bibliography- Universidad EAN, Facultad de Educación en

Ambientes Virtuales, Teoría Discursiva. Aula virtual (Blackboard Learn) Ambiente de Aprendizaje, objeto de aprendizaje “Tipos de Párrafos”. Retrieved on May 18, 2014 from http://virtual.ean.edu.co/bbcswebdav/pid-271208-dt-content-rid-4588576_1/courses/0025832014-1D21E2/AmbienteVirtual/g04_a03_o01.html

- Slideshare.net Paragraph Writing, published on October 15, 2009. Retrieved on May 17, 2014 fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/lionnagaraju/paragraph-writing-2226904

Bibliography- Slideshare.net Tipos de párrafos, published on November

17, 2009 fromhttp://www.slideshare.net/Maritoconde/05-tipos-de-prrafos

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- Scott, F. 2000. Cause and effect paragraph. Tomado el 19 de Mayo de 2014. Disponible en: http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/cause.html

- Fries, P. 1993. The structuring of information in written English text. Language Sciences, 14, 461-488.

- Björk L. & C. Räisänen. (1997). Academic Writing. A University Writing Course. Lund. Studentlitteratur.